Demi Moore confirms Bruce Willis ‘is stable’ in aphasia battle, two years after diagnosis
Demi Moore has offered an update on Bruce Willis’ health, more than two years after the “Die Hard” actor was diagnosed with aphasia.
Willis, 69, was diagnosed with aphasia, a cognitive disorder, in March 2022. Less than a year later, he was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a degenerative brain disease that currently has no cure.
Moore said Sunday at the 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival that her ex-husband “is stable.” The star of “The Substance,” who accepted the fest’s career achievement in acting honor, shared her update during a conversation with journalist Alina Cho, a member of the festival’s advisory board. While Willis’ health may be steady, Moore said she also understands “the disease is what the disease is.”
“I think you have to be in real deep acceptance of what that is,” Moore said, according to People.
News of Willis’ aphasia diagnosis coincided with his family’s 2022 announcement that he would retire from acting.
Earlier this year, Moore spoke candidly about how she copes with Willis’ health issues. In a January conversation with Andy Cohen, she encouraged loved ones of aphasia sufferers to stay in the present. She echoed that sentiment Sunday, telling Cho and her Hamptons audience that “when you’re holding on to what was, I think it’s a losing game.”
“But when you show up to meet them where they’re at, there is great beauty and sweetness.”
Willis has been married to Emma Heming Willis since 2009. But clearly, affection remains between Moore and Willis, who married in 1987 and divorced in 2000. The two actors share daughters Rumer, Scout LaRue and Tallulah. Moore said Sunday that she recently paid a visit to Willis, Rumer and her toddler granddaughter Louetta. Moore reveled in “being able to share with whatever we have, for however long we have it.”
Moore, 61, received her HIFF honor amid her buzz-worthy turn in Coralie Fargeat‘s body horror film “The Substance,” a stomach-churning yet insightful meditation on aging and stardom.
“That deep reminder of appreciating who you are, as you are, where you are, just resonated more as the process went along,” Moore told The Times recently. “And not just the external. Really, all of those internal things of who we are that we often can overlook. And the journey of what it’s taken to get where you are.”
Demi Moore Says There Is ‘Great Beauty’ in Meeting Ex Bruce Willis Where He Is amid FTD Diagnosis
“When you’re holding on to what was, I think it’s a losing game,” Moore said during a wide-ranging discussion at the 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival on Oct. 13
Demi Moore is sharing an update on Bruce Willis’ health.
On Sunday, Oct. 13, The Substance actress was honored with the Career Achievement in Acting Award at the 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival. During a wide-ranging live discussion, which was moderated by HIFF Advisory Board member Alina Cho, the 61-year-old actress said that her ex-husband, 69, is “stable” amid his frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis.
Moore also detailed her personal outlook on the disease, which Bruce’s wife Emma Heming Willis revealed he was diagnosed with last year following his spring 2022 diagnosis of aphasia.
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“You know, I’ve said this before. The disease is what the disease is. And I think you have to be in real deep acceptance of what that is,” Moore told the festival audience. “But for where he’s at, he is stable.”
“What I always encourage is to just meet them where they’re at. When you’re holding on to what was, I think it’s a losing game,” she added of the Die Hard star. “But when you show up to meet them where they’re at, there is great beauty and sweetness.”
As Moore explained, she was just visiting Bruce “two days ago” with her granddaughter, daughter Rumer’s toddler, Louetta. “And being able to share with whatever we have, for however long we have it,” she said of spending time with her ex-husband.
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Moore shares daughters Rumer, 36, Scout, 33, and Tallulah, 30, with Bruce. She previously said on The Drew Barrymore Show last month that “given the givens, [Bruce] is in a stable place.”
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Elsewhere during the discussion at the film festival — during which Moore reflected on multiple career highlights including 1990’s Ghost, 1993’s Indecent Proposal and 1997’s G.I. Jane — she touched on what it meant to her to watch a reel of her films backstage before she was eventually presented with her award.
“I felt like I was watching a lot of life,” she said. “Actually feels like lifetimes, because the gift is that we get to keep changing and growing. What I was thinking is, ‘Thank God I kept getting opportunities to get better.’ “
Moore also spoke about her latest film, The Substance. In the movie, directed by Coralie Fargeat and also starring Margaret Qualley, Moore portrays character Elisabeth Sparkle, who tries a black market drug to create a younger version of herself. The story explores topics including body image and societal expectations for women and aging.
Last month, in conversation with The Guardian, Moore detailed her relationship with her own body over the years and the “self-judgement” explored in her latest film.
“We’ve all had moments where you go back and you’re trying to fix something, and you’re just making it worse to the point where you’re incapacitated,” she told the outlet. “We’re seeing these small things nobody else is looking at, but we’re so hyper-focused on all that we’re not. All of us, if we start to think our value is only with how we look then ultimately we’re going to be crushed.”
The Substance is currently in theaters.
Bruce Willis, Demi Moore avoided doing one thing while co-parenting, daughter says
Bruce Willis and Demi Moore have continued to make their relationship work for the sake of their children, despite getting divorced 24 years ago.
Willis and Moore’s daughter shared how the former couple have been able to stay close and raise separate families together.
“I’m so grateful,” Rumer Willis told People magazine at the premiere of her film, “Trail of Vengeance.” “I think one of the most beautiful things to witness about my parents’ relationship still is just their love and support of each other.”
Willis and Moore married in 1987 and share three daughters: Rumer, Tallulah and Scout. The former couple divorced in 2000. The “Pulp Fiction” star went on to marry Emma Heming, a British model. Heming and Willis share two daughters: Mabel and Evelyn.
Bruce Willis and Demi Moore have remained friends despite getting divorced 24 years ago. (Getty Images)
“It means so much to me, the way that my mom – and I think to all of my sisters and I – the way that my mom shows up for all of us as we are working with it, as she is working with it, even how she is with my other little sisters,” Rumer explained.
“We go over to dinner at Emma’s house with the girls, and we’re family,” she explained. “And I think family can look differently in a lot of ways, but it’s just about what it means.”
Demi Moore shares three daughters with Bruce Willis. (MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Willis and Moore were able to master a co-parenting plan that never pit “the kids against each other.”
“I never had to split a holiday. We never had to split family vacations or Christmases or birthdays. And I think that a lot of the time, it’s just our own ego,” Rumer recalled.
“If you put your kids first, if you’re fighting with that person and can’t put aside whatever it is for your kid, that’s about you. That’s how I feel about it. And I know it’s challenging sometimes.”
“I never had to split a holiday. We never had to split family vacations or Christmases or birthdays. And I think that a lot of the time, it’s just our own ego. If you put your kids first, if you’re fighting with that person and can’t put aside whatever it is for your kid, that’s about you.”
Life has been challenging for Willis, who was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in 2023.
“Our family wanted to start by expressing our deepest gratitude for the incredible outpouring of love, support and wonderful stories we have all received since sharing Bruce’s original diagnosis,” Moore wrote on social media at the time. “In the spirit of that, we wanted to give you an update about our beloved husband, father and friend since we now have a deeper understanding of what he is experiencing.”
She added, “Since we announced Bruce’s diagnosis of aphasia in spring 2022, Bruce’s condition has progressed and we now have a more specific diagnosis: frontotemporal dementia (known as FTD). Unfortunately, challenges with communication are just one symptom of the disease Bruce faces. While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis.”
Moore recently gave an update on the “Die Hard” star’s health while accepting an award at the 2024 Hamptons International Film Festival.
“You know, I’ve said this before. The disease is what the disease is,” Moore told the crowd while accepting the career achievement in acting award, according to People magazine. “And I think you have to be in real deep acceptance of what that is.”
“But for where he’s at, he is stable.”
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